Belt conveyer



Jan. 21, 1936. J. T. NEEDHAM BELT coNvEYER Filed sept. 2, A1935 INVENTORJOHN T. NEEDHAM ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 21,- 1936 UNITED STATES PATENToFFlCE 2,028,236 BELT ooNvmilia` John T. Needham, North Painters, .T-.Application September 2, 1933, "Serialm 6831.94 12 claims. (c1. rssiso)This invention relates more particularly to drag belt conveyers of atype employedvto convey sheets, such as telegram sheets, for example.

In such a conveyer a drag belt travels along f a track which holds thesheets to the conveyer face for drag transport along the track. In priordrag conveyers of this type the drag transport of the sheets is oftenimpeded by frictional resstance due to excessive area of `contact of thesheets with the track and due also to accumulation of dirt on the track.

Important objects of the present invention are to provide an improveddrag belt conveyer designed to reduce frictional resistance to dragconveyance and to provide a drag belt conveyer with an improved tracksurface which may be readily kept clean and smooth to facilitate dragtransport of conveyed matter therealong by the belt.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

In the drawing, Fig. 1` is a diagrammatic side elevation of a drag beltconveyer line embodying the invention; i

Fig. 2 an enlarged longitudinal section on the line 2-2 of Figi; and YFig. 3 an enlarged cross section. onthe line 3-3 Dg Fig; 2.

`.The invention is llustratedas embodied in a drag b'elt sheet conveyerof the type disclosed in a co-pending U, S. patent application of WalterJacob Mann, Serial No. 5125914, filed February 2, 1931. In said conveyera plurality of companion drag belts run along parallel tracks to conveya sheet along both tracks with a medial portion of the sheet bridgingthe space between the belts. Between the tracks there is a ridgeprojecting between thebelts to lexsaid medial portion of the sheet outof the plane of the tracks and thereby hold the sheet against lateraldisplacement and also keep it in better frictional contact with thebelt. The present invention may,howev'er, be employed to equal advantagein other types of drag conveyers.

The convey'er line illustrated includes a pair of companion flatconveyer belts I trained by pairs of coaxially disposed pulleys 2 and 3to provide conveyer reaches le running side by .side along the line intransversely spaced, parallel relation. 5@ 'Ihe pulleys 2 arexed to ashaft 4,- and a motor M has a driving connection .ik with said shaft,

to drive the belt reaches la in the same direction and at the samespeed. Sheets are held to the conveyer faces of the belt reaches Ia bymeans 55 forming tracksior said belt reaches and for the sheets. In thepresent instance said means comprise an elongated plate 6 of rather stiisheet metal. Along a longitudinalA central line said plate is bent toform a sheet flexing ridge or rib 'l tapering toward its crest in crosssection and projecting between the belt reaches le. At opposite sides ofsaid central ridge the plate is bent along parallellongitudinal lines toform track ridges or ribs 8 projecting in the same direction as thecentral ridge but of materially less height. Said track ridges alsotaper toward their crests and the crests are all in the same plane. Thecrests may be slightly rounded as indicated. Preferably there are atleast two of the track ridges at each side of the central ridge andtheir crests are directly opposed to the conveyer face of the adjacentVbelt reach and normally in contact with said face along the conveyerline.

The ridging of the track-forming plate interrupts the bearing surface ofA. the tracks crosswise and thereby greatly reduces ,the area of trackcontact "with the belt and with a transported sheet. `The ridges of eachtrack define a channel therebetween directly beneath the conveyer faceof the Opposed belt. and the crests of the ridges stand outir'om thebody of the plate at opposite sides of the ridges. The belts have dragcontact with the tracks only at the narrow crests of the ridges, alongparallel lines spaced inward from the belt edges; lIn transportation asheet, indi-- cated at S, is held to the conveyer faces of both belts bythe ridges 8 of the two tracks. The medial portion of the sheet isflexed by the central ridge 1 out of the plane of the tracks to hold thesheet against lateral displacement and to secure better contact with thebelts. One face of the sheet is engaged by the full width of the beltswhile the opposite face of the sheet is engaged by only the narrow`crests of the ridges. Consequently the frictional hold of the belt onthe sheet greatly exceeds that of the tracks and the belts areenabled topositively transport the sheet along the tracks. Y

Conveyer belts pick up much dirt and in drag conveyers having flat belttracks much of this dirtV is deposited on, the tracks where it increasesthe frictional resistance to belt travel and often causes the sheets tostick to the track. The present invention eliminates most of thistrouble. Only the ridge crests of the track plate contact with the beltand the sheet, and little or no dirt picked. up by the belts can lodgeVupon the narrow ridge crests. Furthermore; the track plate is designedto facilitate cleaning cf the tracks in case any adhesive matter shouldcling to the ridges.

The outer margins of the track plates are disposed in a plane below thetrack ridges and below the conveyer faces of the belts to affordclearance for lateral entry to the tracks. There are no obstructionsalong the outer edges of the tracks so that a cloth can be readilyinserted beneath the belts to wipe oi the track ridges. To stiien thetrack plate its outer margins may be turned downward to formlongitudinal flanges 9, or they may be curled or beaded.

Suppporting structure to hold the track plate in cooperating relation tothe belts has been omitted from the drawing to simplify theillustration. The track plate and the shafts of the pulleys may besupported by any suitable structure, such as that disclosed intheaforesaid copendingvapplication, Serial No. 512,914, for example.Features of the present co-nveyer shown and described but not claimed inthe present application are claimed in said co-pending application.

What I claim is: y

1. A drag belt sheet conveyer line comprising a pair of companionconveyer belts trained to run Side by side along the line intransversely spaced relation and each having a sheet-engaging conveyerface; and sheet guiding and supporting track means to hold an interposedsheet to both belts for drag conveyance along the line with a medialportion of the sheet bridging the space between the belts and includinga central rib extending along the line and projecting between the beltsto flex said medial portion of the sheet therebetween, and track formingribs at opposite sides of said central rib and of less height than thelatter and extending along the line with their crests directly opposedto said belt faces to hold the sheet to the belts for drag conveyancealong said crests the crests of said tracks forming ribs being narrow incomparison with said opposed faces of the belt.

Y2. A drag belt sheet conveyer line comprising a pair of companionconveyer belts trained to run side by side along the line intransversely spaced relation and each having a sheet-engaging conveyerface; and sheet guiding and suppo-rting track means to hold aninterposed sheet to both belts for drag conveyance along the line with amedial portion of the sheet-bridging the space between the belts andcomprising a plateformed of sheet material bent along parallellongitudinal lines to form a central ridge extending along the lineandprojecting between the belts to iiex said medial portion of the sheettherebetween and to form track ridges at opposite sides of said centralridge and of less height than the latter and extending along the linewith their crests directly opposed to said belt faces to hold the sheetto the belts for drag conveyance along said crests the crests beingnarrow in comparison with the width of the opposed belt faces.

3. A drag belt sheet conveyer line comprising a pair of companionconveyer belts trained to run side by side along the line intransversely spaced relation and each having a sheet engaging conveyerface; and sheet guiding and supporting track means to hold an interposedsheet to both belts for drag conveyance along the line with a medialportion of the sheet bridging the space between the belts and includinga central rib extending along the line and projecting between the beltsto ex said medial portion of the sheet therebetween, and track formingribs at opposite sides of said central rib of less height than thelatter and extending along the line with their crests directly opposedto said belt faces to hold the sheet to the belts for drag conveyancealong said crests, the crests being narrow in comparison with the widthof the opposed belt faces and the sheet guiding and supporting meanshaving lateral clearance along its opposite outer longitudinaledges forlateral entry to the track forming ribs to clean them.

4. A drag belt sheet conveyer line comprising a track extending alongthe line and having longitudinal track ribs, a drag conveyer belttrained along said track and having a conveyer face directly opposed tothe crests of said ribs to convey an interposed sheet along the ribcrests, the crests being narrow in comparison with the Width of saidbelt face, and the line being laterally open along and across an outerside edge thereof in the plane of the belt for access to the rib crestsbeneath the belt to clean the crests.

5. A drag belt sheet conveyer line comprising a track extending alongthe line and having substantially parallel longitudinal track ribs eachtapering in cross section toward its crest, and. a

drag conveyer belt trained along said track andhaving a conveyer facedirectly opposed to the crests of said ribs to dragv an interposed sheetlong said crests, the crests being narrow in comparison with the widthof said belt face, and the line being laterally open in the plane of theribs across and along an outer side edge of the line to afford access tothe ribs for cleaning them.

6. A drag belt sheet conveyer line including a track extending along theline ,and comprising an elongated sheet of stiff material bent alonglongitudinal lines to form substantially parallel track ribs along theline, and a drag conveyer belt trained along said track and having aconveyer face directly opposed to the crests of said ribs to drag aninterposed sheet along the crests, the crests being narrow in comparisonwith the width of said belt face, and said track sheet being formedoutward of the ribs to leave the line laterally open therealong in theplane of the belt to permit access to the rib crests beneath the belt toclean the crests.

7. A sheet -conveyer line comprising cooperating belt conveyer means andtrack means both extending along the line and disposed in opposed faceto face relation for conveyance of an interposed sheet along the trackmeans by the belt means, the track means comprising transversely spacedtrack ribs with crests narrow in comparison with the width of theconveyer face of the belt means and .directly opposed thereto to hold asheet to the belt means forconveyance along said crests by the b-eltmeans, .and a sheet-liexng ridge extending along the line between saidtrack ribs to engage and hold the medial portion of the sheet exed outof the plane of the rib crests as the sheet is conveyed, to preventtransverse displacement of the sheet across the rib crests, one of saidtwo cooperating means having medial clearance therealong for the crestof said ridge.

8. A sheet conveyer line comprising cooperating belt conveyer means andtrack means both extending along the line and disposed in opposed faceto face relation for conveyance of an interposed sheet along the trackmeans by the belt means, the track means comprising transversely spacedtrack ribs with crests narrow in comparison with the width of theconveyer face of the belt means and directly opposed thereto forconveyance ofv a sheet along said crests by the belt means, andsheet-flexing means extending along the line and disposed between saidribs to hold the medial portion of the sheet flexed out of the plane ofthe rib crests as the sheet is conveyed, to prevent transversedisplacement of the sheet across the rib crests.

9. A drag belt sheet conveyer line comprising a pair of companionconveyer belt portions trained to run side by side along the line intransversely spaced relation and each having a sheet-engaging face; andsheet-guiding and supporting track means to hold an interposed sheet toboth of said belt portions for drag conveyance along the line withamedial portion of the sheet bridging the space between the beltportions and comprising a track plate formed of sheet material bentalong parallel longitudinal lines to form a central ridge extendingalong the line and projecting between the belt portions to flex saidmedial portion of the sheet therebetween and to form track ridges atopposite sides of said central ridge, of less height than the latter andextending along the line with their crests directly opl track structureincluding a central rib extending along the line and a sheet track .ateach side of said central rib and comprising track ribs extendingtherealong in substantially parallel relation to each other and to thecentral rib and having narrow crests disposed below the level of thecrest of the central rib; and conveyer belt means opposed to said ribbedtracks to hold a sheet to vboth tracks for conveyance therealong with amedial portion of the sheet flexed out of the plane of the track ribcrests by the central rib.

11. A belt sheet conveyer line comprising a track plate formed of sheetmaterial bent along parallel longitudinal lines to form a central ridgeextending along the line and sheet track ridges at opposite sides ofsaid central ridge and with narrow crests disposed below the crest ofthe central ridge; and conveyer belt means trained to hold a sheet tothe crests of the track ridges at both sides of the central ridge forconveyance threalong with the medial portion of the sheet flexed out ofthe plane of the track ridge crests by the central ridge.

12. A drag belt sheet conveyer line comprising a pair of companionconveyer belt portions trained to run side by side along the line intransversely spaced relation and each having a sheetengaging face; andsheet guiding and supporting track means to hold an interposed sheet toboth of said belt portions for drag conveyance along the line with amedial portion of the sheet bridging the space between the belt portionsand comprising a track plate` formed of sheet material bent alongparallel longitudinal lines to form a. central ridge extending along theline and projecting between the belt portions to flex said medialportion of the sheet therebetween and to form a plurality of trackridges at each side of said central ridge of less height than the latterand extending along the line with their crests directly opposed to saidbelt faces to hold the sheet to the belt portions for drag conveyancealong the said crests, the track ridges tapering toward their crests incross section and the crests being narrow in comparison with the width4of the belt faces opposed thereto.

JOHN T. NEEDHAM.

